# data[].attributes.body
So many ideas!!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
ATTENTION- THESE PRINTABLES ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE!

Yesterday the Early Childhood Education Team and I put out posts on how to teach the alphabet to preschoolers. One supply that I really like to use for alphabet instruction are these outlined alphabet letters.These are great to include in busy boxes as well! (Check out our guide to preschool busy boxes). Here are some ways the printables can be used:

With manipulatives

Preschoolers can fill in each upper and lower case letter with small maniplulatives that coordinate with the letter or theme you are working on!

Use manipulaives to make patterns within the letters, estimate how many it will take to fill in each letter, and don't forget to count how many manipulatives you used in the end! See, math and literacy can go together 🙂

Here are a few that we like to use: glass gems, alphabet beads, and bear counters. Here are similar heart gems to the ones we used above.

Re-create the letter

The letters can be recreated with play dough (see main image above), pipe cleaners, yarn, or wikki sticks. I bet Moon Sand might even be an interesting way to recreate the letters! This is a great way to incorporate fine motor skills as well!

Dried food items

One type of manipulative that you probably already have is pasta and beans! These make great substitute manipulatives to fill in each letter with. There are even fun shaped pasta like these fish ones we used in our fishing game, perfect to use in a preschool ocean unit.

Color and paint them

This is a pretty self explanatory way to use them. Make sure you have plenty of different materials available including crayons, markers, watercolors, chalk, etc. You can choose to keep the letters monochromatic (all different shades of green, for example), or just embrace the rainbow!

Hammer and push pins

This is one of my boys' favorite ways to use the letters! All it takes is a cork board, push pins, and a play hammer! Fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and alphabet recognition are all at work in this fun activity!

Use natural materials

Small sticks, stones, flower petals, and leaves are all great (FREE!) materials that can be used to fill in each letter.

Cut them out

If your little ones are proficient with scissors, let them have a chance to cut each letter out. While they may not cut perfectly on the lines, cutting around the shape of the letter is a good way to develop muscle memory of how each letter is formed (see our guide to choosing the right preschool scissors here!)

Magnetic activity

This is another favorite around here! We made magnetic pom poms by hot gluing circle magnets on the back, then we place the alphabet paper on a cookie sheet and filled it in with the magnets! They make a nice satisfying "clink" and keep the kids busy for quite a while!

Stickerize it

Okay, maybe stickerize isn't a word, but you get it! Pull out those dollar store happy face or "Great job!" stickers and let your kids fill in the letters! This is a simple activity to throw together! (See a big list on other ways to use stickers here!)

Do-a-Dot markers or bingo stampers

Preschoolers LOVE do-a-dot markers! Use them to fill in each letter you are working on for the week 🙂

Fingerprint it

Make sure to use a washable ink pad when offering this activity! You can always use finger paints, but ink pads tend to be a neater option.

Cut and paste

Have preschoolers cut out magazine pictures and paste them inside the letters. Stick to a theme (N for noses, maybe) or just let them go at it on their own!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
FREE alphabet printables and Activity Ideas - Munchkins and Moms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ATTENTION- THESE PRINTABLES ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE! Yesterday the Early Childhood Education Team and I put out posts on how to teach the alphabet to preschoolers. One supply that I really like to use for alphabet instruction are these outlined alphabet letters.These are great to include in busy boxes as well!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
PS PK K 1 2 3 *

Today I'm sharing 9 letter R craft s and art projects for preschoolers. Have fun!

Letter R Crafts

We had so much fun making rainbows and robots that it was hard to stop! We hope you get a chance to try one or more of these in your home or classroom.

Tool Scraps Robot

Can we say coolest kid craft ever? My husband supplied us with some scraps from his tool bench. I helped my Four glue down the CD case and applied the hot glue for the rest of his robot. He added all the detail with a Sharpie. And the coolest part? The CD case opens and closes to reveal the robot's inside parts! Get a tutorial and supply list for this fun robot from The Art Annex.

Cardboard Tube Rocket

My creative four-year-old actually claims nearly every roll when it's empty, so I was lucky to grab a toilet paper roll for this craft! He loved the final product, but I actually had to do a lot of it for him. A challenge was getting the top to stay on... we never did figure it out! See a tutorial for this rocket at Crafty Morning.

Glue, Salt & Watercolor Rainbows

Have you ever painted with glue, salt, and watercolor? Such a cool effect! Just make lines of glue for the shape of a rainbow (I did this for my Two and Four). Then put it on a baking sheet and dump salt on it. Tap the extra salt off, and get out your watercolors.

When you touch the salty glue with your paintbrush, the paint will start to bleed down the glue. My Two wasn't patient enough for this and pressed his paintbrush into the glue, leaving a somewhat sloppy effect. My Four eventually got the idea. My Seven was home and had to give it a try, too.

R is for Rainbow #1

I just love this! My Two made this rainbow craft with some help from me, but he did most of it himself. If you think putting those stripes on the R takes a lot of crazy cutting and trimming, you're wrong. Get the tutorial for the letter R rainbow at No Time for Flashcards. We added some clouds just for fun. If you want a pattern for the letter R, check out my giant printable block letters.

Coffee Filter Rainbow Fish

Okay, truth? I'm not a big fan of The Rainbow Fish book. I'm just not. You can read why in my letter R book list. But one great thing about that book is that it's the inspiration for a lot of fun art projects - like this fish that my Two made using a coffee filter, spray bottle, and aluminum foil. This was a great craft to do together because he needed me for the cutting. But he did the rest himself, and it was excellent fine motor practice to glue on those tiny hole punched circles.

Get the tutorial for this coffee filter rainbow fish from Juggling with Kids.

R is for Rainbow #2

This was part of an entire Letter of the Week craft series that I did with my kids about a year ago at Crystal and Comp. Hop on by to get the tutorial and free pattern for this colorful rainbow craft.

R is for Rabbit

This letter R rabbit is all over Pinterest, so I won't try to find the original creator! You can make this as simple or complex as you'd like depending on how much you do for your child. I gave my Four the R, a cotton ball, googly eyes, marker, and glue. The rest was up to him!

Magna Tile Rocket

When my boys saw this awesome rocket from And Next Comes L, they had to make their own. Magna Tiles are our priciest toy, but they're so worth it. You can do so many things with these well-made toys... including make a rocket with a pineapple can! Fun stuff.

Red Rectangle Robot
Get more letter R activities! Get more craft ideas!
My Four may not get the prize for the most Pinterest-worthy crafts, but he does get the prize for independence and creativity! I gave him the rectangles, and he created this robot with a glue stick and some markers. It's holding pizza. 🙂 You can learn more about it and get a pattern for the rectangles at Love to Play and Learn.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. PS PK K 1 2 3 * Today I'm sharing 9 letter R craft s and art projects for preschoolers. Have fun! We had so much fun making rainbows and robots that it was hard to stop!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Letter A Crafts for Preschoolers

We're about halfway through our our alphabet exploration, and we're finally at the letter A. We take the letters out of order because we started with the ones that were easiest to write - which puts letter A in the middle of the alphabet. Since I have four kids who love to create, it's easy for us to share a variety of crafts to enhance your Letter of the Week. Check out our nine letter A crafts!

A is for Ants on an Anthill

I printed out a giant letter A and cut it out for my older preschooler. He had fun putting on the round black stickers and adding the ant details.

My One (almost two! ack!) has gotten to the age where he doesn't like to be left out of craft time. So I was excited to find this simple craft that he could do on my lap. Don't you just love this simple preschool alphabet craft I found at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman?

If your preschooler has the patience to complete this giant alligator craft, he'll be so proud of it! Both my Three and my Five began this craft, but just my Five had the interest in finishing it. We used three pieces of green construction paper to create the alligator, and he used my circle punch to cut out spots from our paper scraps. And of course googly eyes always add some extra fun. 🙂 To learn how to make this alligator craft yourself, visit Little Family Fun.

My boys love vehicle crafts, and my Three enjoys cut-and-paste activities. Yes, I know - there's not a lot of creativity required here, but we try to mix up our projects with process art so that he can exercise his imagination too. An older preschooler might enjoy cutting out the pieces himself, but my Three isn't quite ready for that.

Hand and Fingerprint Apple Tree

This was another on-my-lap craft for my One. I traced his hand, helped him glue it down, and showed him how to dip his finger in paint for the apples. It appears that this tree has been assaulted by a wind storm. 🙂 I saw this hand and fingerprint apple tree on Learn Play Imagine.

Did you know that we did an entire Letter of the Week craft series over at Crystal & Company? We made these alligators quite a few months ago (before each of my big kids had their birthdays). Check out the post and get the pattern for A is for Alligator over at Crystal & Company.

I cannot tell you how much fun my three boys had flying their craft stick airplanes. I had to make one for my One because he didn't want to be left out. The boys counted out the sticks and helped me assemble the planes - but most of the work fell to me because it required a glue gun. However, both of my older boys had fun painting their planes. See how to make a craft stick airplane at Preschool Powol Packets.

I was sure my boys would love the classic apple stamping project, so it took me off guard when my Three didn't like it at all. He couldn't get a good grip on the apple, and he couldn't figure out how to stamp without getting paint all over his hands. Plus - well, he has a temperament which doesn't allow a lot of room for frustration. So my One finished the activity instead (under very close supervision). He thought it was great!

After he had calmed down, my Three returned to the table and very much enjoyed this apple tree scrunch art. You can read more about it over at Teach Preschool.

Are you following me on Pinterest?
Follow The Measured Mom's board Letter A on Pinterest.
For many more resources for the letter A, click on the image below!
Get more craft ideas! Have you seen our letter of the week curriculum?
© 2014 - 2020, Anna G. All rights reserved.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Letter A Crafts for Preschoolers - The Measured Mom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We're about halfway through our our alphabet exploration, and we're finally at the letter A. We take the letters out of order because we started with the ones that were easiest to write - which puts letter A in the middle of the alphabet.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Today, I'm sharing one more LEGO activity for Toddler Approved's LEGO Week! Be sure to visit her post to see all of the activities shared.

If you've followed along for very long, you know that one of my favorite ways to teach spelling is with word sorts. Why? They are hands-on, developmentally appropriate, and allow kids to make their own phonics generalizations. But did you know that LEGO bricks and word sorting can go hand-in-hand? Here's how we did it!
*This post contains affiliate links.

Preparing your Word Family Sorting Activity

First, I grabbed 18 DUPLO LEGO bricks (the ones that have 8 bumps on top).

I picked three different word families to feature. Since NJoy has been working on short vowel words all school year (and a few blends), I chose to make it a bit trickier so that they all ended with a different vowel + g. If sorting word family words this close in spellings would confuse your child, be sure to pick 3 word families that are different enough such as -at, -og, and -en.

I used a Sharpie and wrote the word family words on each block. (Sharpie does come off with rubbing alcohol, but if you prefer, you could use mailing labels instead or maybe even dry erase marker.)

I placed all the words in a container, except for three words: wag, pig and dog. These became our head or reference words for our sort.

Word Family Sorting with LEGO Bricks

First, I laid out one word from each word family on the floor (wag, pig, and dog). We read each head word.

One by one, he picked a DUPLO LEGO brick word from the container, placed it under the matching word family pattern (either -ag, -ig, or -og) and we then read each word together.

Afterwards, he wanted to connect all the columns as we read each word once more.

I picked up one column at a time and asked him, "How are all these words the same?"

He needed a little help, but after the first column, he began to notice how the words in each separate column shared ending word chunks (word family chunks) and that they rhymed.

We broke apart all the words and put them back into the container. I encouraged him to give it a go again by himself. He wasn't interested at the time, so we finished the lesson. (But I did "catch" him giving it a try later that same day during rest time...hehe.)

More Ideas you May Enjoy:

Follow This Reading Mama's board Learning with LEGOS on Pinterest.

Enjoy!

~Becky

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today, I'm sharing one more LEGO activity for Toddler Approved's LEGO Week! Be sure to visit her post to see all of the activities shared. If you've followed along for very long, you know that one of my favorite ways to teach spelling is with word sorts. Why?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
My name is Susie and I'm addicted to dot stickers. Actually, it's me AND my two year old who are addicted so at least I'm not alone here.

Dot stickers are our jam. We love using them in any activity we can think of, from sorting to name recognition to board game building (no joke! We used them to make a board game once!).

So grab your dot stickers - here's one easy letter matching activity! I saw a version of this activity on Pinterest from Testy Yet Trying and knew we had to give it a go. We are too into dot stickers not to try it!

You don't need much for this easy letter matching activity!

This activity took me about a hot second to set up.
Seriously.
This was one of those magical quick, low-prep activities that I live for. Toddler activities don't need to be lots of prep and high stress. Quick and easy is where it's at. And this activity totally fit the bill.

I did add a little extra challenge
Materials:
(this list contains affiliate links)

I grabbed an empty paper towel tube (one that I'd probably been saving for weeks...) and started to write the letters of the alphabet on it. I wrote the letters in upper case form on the tube. Then I had an idea for making this activity a little more challenging....

On the sticker sheet, I wrote all the letters again but this time, I wrote them in lower case form.

The perfect challenge for my daughter!

Having to match upper and lower case letters was the perfect added challenge for my daughter (29 months old). She had to really think when it came to some of those tricky letters like Jj and Gg.

During an activity like this, I stay close to my daughter to make sure she's "getting it". I don't intervene much, but I do listen to her as she works through the activity to make sure she's correctly matching the letters.

I don't do this because I want her to be perfect. I do this because I want to make sure that she is practicing putting the correct letters together. I've noticed she reverses Jj and Ii a lot. I know this because I listen so I make sure to provide assistance when she matches up the wrong letter.

It's all about helping her learn, using these as "teachable moments", and remembering in my Mom brain that when I see Jj or Ii out in the real world, to show them to her so that eventually, she commits them to memory. Nothing to stress about, no big deal.

We will definitely do this again

This activity was PERFECT for my daughter. Makes me wish I had more paper towel tubes so I could make a whole set of them like And Next Comes L did.

Making this easy letter matching activity definitely kept our love of dot stickers going. I wonder what we will use them for next...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
My name is Susie and I'm addicted to dot stickers. Actually, it's me AND my two year old who are addicted so at least I'm not alone here. Dot stickers are our jam. We love using them in any activity we can think of, from sorting to name recognition to board game building (no joke!

# data[].attributes.body
Write letters (uppercase and/or lowercase) on plastic cups and have your child knock them down as you call them out.

# data[].attributes.body
Hide letters (uppercase and/or lowercase) in a sensory bin/bottle and have your child see what letters they can find.

# data[].attributes.body
Write letters (uppercase and/or lowercase) on plastic cups and have your child knock them down as you call out their sounds.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learning Letters with Pipe Cleaners | Make and Takes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Were using pipe cleaners to form learning letters today. It's the perfect activity for little ones learning the alphabet and beginning reading skills!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Alphabet Art Book

(Click on any image to see a larger version of that image.)

Alphabet Art Book - For the past few years, I have made an Alphabet Art book with my classroom. I used to do a page a week (according to the Letter of the Week), but I recently switched to doing the entire book during the first month of school. It was much better not having to store the books all year. Another plus of doing it this way was that the kids took home their own alphabet book to read all of the time.

I have listed below some different suggestions for each letter of the alphabet. You can pick which one for each letter is more your style. Some people are in to painting and mess more than others so you can choose what you like.
Aa- apple prints, fingerprint ants
Bb- bubble prints, block prints, blue, band-aids, beans
Cc- cotton prints, car tracks, carrot prints, corn
Dd- dot design (Dot Art Painters), diamonds
Ee- elbow painting, egg shapes, wiggly eyes
Ff- finger painting, draw faces or fish, feathers, flowers
Gg- glitter glue
Hh- hand prints, hearts, hay
Ii- ice cube painting, ink (rubber stamps with a variety of inks)
Jj- junk prints, jewels, jazzy J's (decorate with lots of stuff)
Kk- kite shapes (draw or precut), keys (rubbings), kleenex
Ll- letter collage (rubber stamps or alphabet punches), ladybugs
Mm- marble painting, mosaic, fingerprint mice
Nn- nature prints, newspaper numbers, nickel rubbings
Oo- O's (toilet paper tubes), orange (the fruit) prints
Pp- painted picture, purple potato prints. penny rubbings
Qq- quarter rubbings, q-tip painting, quilt (squares of paper)
Rr- rubbings, rainbows, ribbon rectangles, red objects
Ss- sponge paint, stamp designs (rubber stamps), sand, stickers
Tt- torn paper collage, toothpick triangles, tea
Uu- upside-down picture, up arrows
Vv- vegetable prints, valentines
Ww- watercolor, waves, wallpaper
Xx- x-ray (q-tips)
Yy- yarn design, yellow yo-yo's
Zz- zigzags, zipper rubbing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
kindergarten curriculum ideas and resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kidscount1234.com - Shari Sloane - Educational Consultant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Alphabet Art Book (Click on any image to see a larger version of that image.) Alphabet Art Book - For the past few years, I have made an Alphabet Art book with my classroom. I used to do a page a week (according to the Letter of the Week), but I recently switched to doing the entire book during the first month of school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Throughout the school year, we take the time to highlight each letter of the alphabet. I change up the approach I take throughout the year plus provide a variety of different activities that invite the children to explore and discover letters through hands-on play. Today, I thought I would share with you our Alphabet box we will use as part of our circletime introduction to each letter this year...

I found the box in the craft section at Walmart and Miss Lauren added some paint to give it a more bright and colorful look...

I have several ideas of how I hope to use the alphabet box but we will start off our school year by storing our small canvas alphabet bags that we have been putting together inside the box. Inside each canvas bag we will put objects that begin with sound of the letter painted on the outside of the bag...

We have already started filling up the bags with a few items we find here and there. For example, in our Aa bag, we have an apple and an acorn...

And in our Bb bag we have items that start with the sound of the letter Bb...

Some of our bags have quite a few things in each one. Our goal was to have at least five items in each bag but some of our bags only have one item like our letter Cc bag. It has only one little car inside for now...

The bags will be used for games throughout the school year and other ideas as I come up with them. In other words, everything I make for the classroom is fairly open ended in what it will be used for so we don't go through all the trouble just for one day and one activity. We will also see what ideas our students come up with too...

For now, we will begin our school year exploring our letter bags and alphabet box by inviting the children to pick a bag each day and then we will see what sounds the letter bag of the day has inside for us to explore and discover! My chart has all the letters ready to go for the entire alphabet too so we can hunt down the letter to match our bag. And for those of you who are wondering, we won't be going in order of the alphabet. Instead, each day will be a new letter surprise!
Now it's Your Turn! Scroll on down and join in the ABC and 123 Linky fun!! Available on Amazon

Discover and Explore: ABC's and 123′s!
Upcoming Themes:
Currently Open - ABC's & 123′s

August 28 - Down on the Farm

September 4 - Forest

September 11 - Fall

September 18 - Five Senses
Please read the following guidelines for sharing:

Share family-friendly posts related to the weekly topic - kids activities, crafts, recipes, nature outings, printables, etc.

By linking up, you are giving me permission to share your post including one photo in our weekly feature post and on social media channels.

Visit 2-3 other posts that have linked up, find some new ideas & meet new friends!

If you'd like, grab a button for your post - we love to share and want to find lots of great activities to highlight for you!

The linky will remain open for one week. Then all five co-hosts will feature activities in a separate post the Friday after the linky closes. All featured posts will be shared on the Discover and Explore Pinterest Board. (Be sure to follow so you don't miss any features!) The Discover & Explore Team Shaunna from Fantastic Fun and Learning Jackie from KC Edventures Stephanie from Twodaloo Chelsey from Buggy and Buddy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Throughout the school year, we take the time to highlight each letter of the alphabet. I change up the approach I take throughout the year plus provide a variety of different activities that invite the children to explore and discover letters through hands-on play.